2020/12/04 by Mário S. Alvim, Bernardo Amorim, Alvim, Mário S. +8 · 1 citation
Chemistry · Computer Science · Decision Sciences · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Chemistry #Combinatorics #Complex Network Analysis Techniques #Game Theory and Applications #Graph #Mathematical economics #Mathematics #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Strongly connected component #cs.MA
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2012.02703
arxiv created 2020/12/04 · openalex publication_date 2020/12/04 · arxiv updated 2020/12/07 · openalex created_date 2022/10/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We describe a model for polarization in multi-agent systems based on Esteban\nand Ray's classic measure of polarization from economics. Agents evolve by\nupdating their beliefs (opinions) based on the beliefs of others and an\nunderlying influence graph. We show that polarization eventually disappears\n(converges to zero) if the influence graph is strongly-connected. If the\ninfluence graph is a circulation we determine the unique belief value all\nagents converge to. For clique influence graphs we determine the time after\nwhich agents will reach a given difference of opinion. Our results imply that\nif polarization does not disappear then either there is a disconnected subgroup\nof agents or some agent influences others more than she is influenced. Finally,\nwe show that polarization does not necessarily vanish in weakly-connected\ngraphs, and illustrate the model with a series of case studies and simulations\ngiving some insights about polarization.\n